Videos of Southeast Asia

Transformative.

That’s the word I use when people ask me, “How was your trip to Southeast Asia?”

Nine months have passed since my return to North America, yet I still think about that mystical, far away place every day. I often catch myself day dreaming about my adventures, the friends I made, and the surprising — sometimes bizarre — things I saw. 

From the poverty I witnessed in water-deprived villages in Malaysia, to Khmer Rouge survivors in Cambodia, and mysterious tattoo artists of Phi Phi Island in Thailand, there was a lot to take in during my six-week trip. 

Electric view. Incredible view of Singapore by night from the top of the infamous Marina Bay Sands, the three-column hotel that looks like it has a giant blimp perched on top of it.

And not all my memories are happy ones, like my days spent at places like the Killing Fields in Cambodia, but they gave me an appreciation for what I know, and all the things I’ve been blessed with in North America. For this reason, much of my blog ran with a social justice theme. When I started Sleepless in Singapore I didn’t really know what to expect, but for the most part, I’m pleased with the end result. This blog put me in situations I maybe wouldn’t have investigated, if not for my own curiosity. And I’m grateful for that.

Side view of Marina Bay Sands overlooking Singapore.

Blasting rockets in Cambodia.

So for this post, I decided to take a step back, let my hair down a bit, and just compile a fun montage of my trip that’s a little more personalized and less serious than previous content on Sleepless in Singapore — of footage I never thought would ever see the light of day.

You’ll see Singapore’s eclectic architecture (see above photos for a better look), a crocodile eating a duck, a moonlit beach party on Phi Phi Island, a back alley wedding in Phnom Penh, a snippet of Angkor Wat, Apsara dancers on Pub Street in Siem Reap, a conversation about Thai currency from the backseat of a shady taxi in Indonesia, other shenanigans, and of course I couldn’t resist throwing in a clip of yours truly firing a rocket launcher

It’s not perfect; there are shaky cameras, questionable frames, and a loose narrative structure, but hey, this was for kicks  — and likely filmed from the back of a yuk yuk traveling at excessive speeds down a bumpy back alley to a hot, sweaty Bangkok night.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Keep an eye out for an upcoming feature series on Sleepless in Singapore that takes a look at Southeast Asian culture in North America, and more particularly New York City. “Cambodians in New York,” is a four-part multimedia series that will unearth a handful of dynamic stories on the Cambodian community in the Bronx. What happens when Sleepless in Singapore & the City that Never Sleeps collide? Stay tuned to find out.

Connect with Dorian Geiger, editor of Sleepless in Singapore.